Proud Boys

Key Points

• The Proud Boys are a right-wing extremist group with a history of using violence, targeted harassment and intimidation to achieve their political goals and combat perceived enemies like “antifa” and others.
• The group serves as a tent for misogynistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies and other forms of hate – including antisemitism and white supremacy – that oppose progressivism, feminism, multiculturalism and “woke” ideology in the United States.
• The Proud Boys played an integral role in the January 6 insurrection, organizing and leading participants during the 2021 attack on the Capitol. Proud Boys account for the highest number of extremist arrestees, with at least 58 members and chapter affiliates across the country apprehended to date.
• The intense legal scrutiny against the group post-insurrection effectively dissolved its national leadership and pushed it to grant local chapters more autonomy. Since this devolution, Proud Boys chapters have increasingly engaged in localized, on-the-ground activity, running for local elected offices and targeting school board meetings, public forums and local LGBTQ+ events, with a particular focus on drag-related performances.
• The Proud Boys claim to have 146 officially recognized chapters across the U.S., with international chapters in Canada, Australia and across Europe and Asia. There are also active unrecognized Proud Boys chapters in the United States.

Video Backgrounder

Background

The Proud Boys are a right-wing extremist group whose members embrace misogynistic, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies, among other forms of hate, including antisemitism and white supremacy. Founded in 2016, the group rose to prominence in 2017 as an organization of self-described "Western chauvinists” and established itself as a dominant force in far-right circles. At events and protests, the Proud Boys became easily recognizable due to their black and yellow clothing, a makeshift uniform some continue to wear to this day.

Positioned against progressive politics, multiculturalism, feminism and social justice movements, the Proud Boys view the left as a dangerous enemy perpetually engaged in dismantling the traditional American way of life and destroying “family values.” They maintain that their worldview is “constantly under attack” from powerful forces ranging from “antifa” to the federal government and view themselves as a group made up of “warriors” and “patriots” willing to fight back, often literally.

The group has actively pursued violence and intimidation as part of its agenda against “antifa” and other perceived enemies, and members have taken part in multiple acts of brutal violence and intimidation over the years that often resulted in injuries and arrests.

A member of the far-right group Proud Boys and a left-wing counter-protester fight in a truck on August 22, 2021, in Portland, Oregon. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)

Officially, the Proud Boys have four degrees of membership, each with different requirements. First-degree Proud Boys swear an oath of loyalty, reciting, “I'm a proud Western chauvinist, I refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” Second-degree members are punched by other Proud Boys while naming five breakfast cereals, and third-degree Proud Boys get a group tattoo.

To achieve fourth-degree status, a Proud Boy must “engage in a major conflict for the cause,” which could either comprise a “serious physical fight” or an arrest. These members are also required to refrain from masturbation, a common right-wing extremist “restriction” that is meant to teach discipline and guard against men “wasting” their testosterone (which would be better expended fighting leftists).

During President Trump’s first term, Proud Boys were regulars at far-right demonstrations, Trump rallies and Republican events, forging ties with the Republican political establishment and at times acting as a volunteer security force for activists, politicians and members of Trump’s camp. They also dabbled in associations with white supremacist groups and events. Several members attended the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, organized in large part by white supremacist and former Proud Boy Jason Kessler.

The 2020 presidential election was a turning point for the group, as it embraced election denialism, which culminated in the deadly January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol where individuals associated with the Proud Boys played key roles: leading groups of rioters, engaging in numerous acts of destruction and violence and assaulting members of law enforcement. 

To date, the Proud Boys have accumulated the highest number of insurrection-related arrests of any extremist group. The group's top leadership was convicted of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. Former National Chairman of the Proud Boys, Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, was sentenced to 22 years of incarceration and 36 months of supervised release, the longest of any sentence in relation to the insurrection.

The ADL Center on Extremism (COE) tracked post-insurrection crowdfunding of $6,412,858 across 163 known GiveSendGo campaigns for those who faced charges. Approximately $557,000 (18%) has gone to Proud Boys and some $578,000 (19%) to militia movement-connected campaigns like Three Percenters and Oath Keepers.

Since the January 6 attack, the resulting breakdown of the Proud Boys’ national leadership structure and intense legal scrutiny has prompted more localized, somewhat autonomous Proud Boys chapters operating in their immediate area with little inter-chapter organization.

In recent years, the group has largely focused on opposing COVID-19 safety measures, targeting school board meetings with anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-critical race theory (CRT) rhetoric and protesting LGBTQ+ events. 

The power vacuum at the national level has also contributed to ideological inconsistency across some Proud Boy elements and chapters, and a rise of racist, antisemitic, and white supremacist rhetoric. Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, the Proud Boys' more antisemitic spaces openly espoused anti-Jewish hatred and anti-Zionism.

Current Status

In 2024, the Proud Boys were far less active on the ground than in previous years, with a few exceptions, like a September demonstration in Springfield, Ohio that targeted the Haitian immigrant community. 

Through the group is far less structured than in past iterations following the January 6 insurrection, the Proud Boys have welcomed a second Trump administration. 

Today, the Proud Boys claim to have 146 officially recognized chapters in 47 U.S. states, with international chapters in Canada, Australia and across Europe and Asia. There are also active unrecognized Proud Boys chapters in the U.S that use the group’s branding and iconography.

Origins and Ideology

The Proud Boys was founded in 2016 by VICE Media co-founder Gavin McInnes, who announced the creation of the group in an op-ed in the far-right outlet Taki’s Magazine, which is notorious for platforming white supremacists. In the piece, McInnes described the Proud Boys as “Western chauvinists who refuse to apologise [sic] for creating the modern world” and “long for the days when girls were girls and men were men.”

McInnes touted the Proud Boys as a “pro-western fraternity” -- essentially a drinking club dedicated to male bonding, socializing and celebrating all things related to “Western” culture.

From the outset, the Proud Boys aggressively promoted misogynist and anti-feminist ideology, embracing a view of women similar to white supremacists and other elements of the online misogynist manosphere. The group was also founded on xenophobic ideology, baked into the group’s “West is the best” worldview, as well as anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry. Some individuals and elements within the Proud Boys are openly antisemitic.

An Early History of Violence

Physical violence has always been a core tenet of the Proud Boys. In the early years, members quickly garnered widespread attention for brutal fights and brawls with left-wing protestors who opposed the Trump administration. In 2017, the group fought protestors around college campuses like the University of California-Berkeley and New York University, resulting in injuries and arrests.

That same year, it also formed a “tactical defensive arm,” or “military arm” called the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights (FOAK).  Some FOAK members took part in the 2017 white supremacist rally Unite the Right, where counter-protester Heather Heyer was killed and dozens were injured.

McInnes denounced the rally and threatened to expel members who stood alongside white supremacists, but the event shined an international spotlight on the group and others in right-wing and far-right spaces.

By 2018, the Proud Boys ramped up their aggressive activities, engaging in multiple rallies that turned violent and getting into two street fights that went on to play a key role in the group’s mythology. In June 2018, prominent Proud Boy Ethan Nordean infamously knocked out a left-wing activist during a violent political clash in Portland, Oregon. The group shared and made edits of the video for years following the incident, glorifying Nordean’s violent actions. Months later, in October 2018, the Proud Boys attacked antifascist protesters outside of the Metropolitan Republican Club in Manhattan where McInnes was a speaker. Two Proud Boys members were convicted on gang violence charges and sentenced to substantial prison terms, and seven others pled guilty to the assault.

In the wake of the Manhattan violence, McInnes officially left the group. While he does not currently have a formal role, he maintains a degree of cultural influence as well as relationships with some Proud Boys members and chapters.

After McInnes’s departure, Tarrio, a Cuban-American resident of Miami who had gained prominence in the group after punching a left-wing protester in his hometown and becoming a fourth-degree member, assumed the leadership role. He would go on to lead the Proud Boys until after the January 6 attack (which ushered in the group’s current decentralized era).

Entering Political and Cultural Mainstream

While gaining notoriety for brutal violence, the Proud Boys were also making inroads with the Republican political establishment, often seeking connections to prominent government figures and other more mainstream Republican figures to gain legitimacy.

In February 2018, GOP operative Roger Stone, a convicted felon (though pardoned by President Trump in 2020) and longtime advisor to Republican presidents, made a YouTube video reciting the Proud Boys’ initiation, which was shared widely by the group. Stone maintained a long relationship with the Proud Boys, and has appeared in videos, received support from the group during his 2019 trial and even used them as private security at events.

Stone also posed for social media pictures with various Proud Boys members, a tactic the group has employed with other Republican figures to gain legitimacy and attention. In October 2019, Donald Trump, Jr. posed for a photo with Proud Boy member Luke Rohlfing (though it is unclear whether Trump Jr. was aware of Rohlfing’s political views). Group members have been photographed with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), then-Florida Governor Rick Scott and former U.S. Representative turned Trump Media & Technology Group CEO Devin Nunes.

Sen. Cruz took his support a bit further in July 2019, backing a non-binding resolution that would have defined anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists after Tarrio launched a petition in favor of the bill. Then-president Trump took notice and tweeted that “Major consideration is being given to naming ANTIFA an “ORGANIZATION OF TERROR.”

By 2020, the Proud Boys had been embraced by several Fox News hosts; McInnes appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program over two dozen times, and former Fox News star Tucker Carlson has appeared on McInnes’ show.

Later that year, the Proud Boys received a major boost in visibility and perceived legitimacy following a remark by President Trump during a 2020 presidential debate in which he infamously called upon the group: “Proud Boys -- stand back and stand by,” which was celebrated nationally by the Proud Boys as an endorsement.

2020: Violent Clashes, An International Pandemic, and a Contested Election

The Proud Boys were particularly active in 2020, engaging in violent clashes with Black Lives Matter (BLM) and antifa protesters, and showing a strong presence at MAGA rallies and anti-lockdown protests, solidifying its status as the then most visible and active right-wing extremist group in the country.

As the nation grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the Proud Boys became a regular sight at protests of lockdown mandates, using the demonstrations to raise their profile and as recruitment opportunities.

The Proud Boys also embraced the #Saveourchildren campaign alongside QAnon adherents. The new links gave the Proud Boys access to untapped extremist segments of the pro-Trump movement.

Clashes with Social Justice Movements

In the spring and summer of 2020, the Proud Boys took to the streets to fight protesters with the BLM movement in the aftermath of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, framing them as evil “antifa” “Marxists” intent on destroying the U.S.

This period produced some of the most brutal clashes between Proud Boys and their adversaries, particularly in Portland, Oregon which saw over 100 days of continuous unrest. It allowed the Proud Boys to brand themselves as a “law and order” counterpoint to BLM protesters, although the Proud Boys themselves generally precipitated the most egregious acts of violence and intimidation against them.

On August 15, 2020, the Proud Boys joined a protest organized by frequent collaborators Patriot Prayer in Portland where Proud Boys member Alan Swinney used a paintball gun to attack counter-protestors, injuring at least one person. That same day, a large group of Proud Boys wearing body armor and other tactical gear in Kalamazoo, Michigan staged a demonstration during which a brawl broke out between Proud Boys and counter-protestors, with some fist fighting and others using signs as weapons and pepper spray.

Days later, on August 22, 2020, members of the Proud Boys, armed with bear mace, clubs, paintball guns and a revolver, fought with antifascist counter-protestors and members of the media in Portland, Oregon. One journalist suffered a broken finger when Proud Boys member Travis Taylor allegedly attacked him with a club. 

A MAGA convoy in Portland a week later, on August 29, 2020, led to the death of Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a member of Proud Boys ally Patriot Prayer. On September 26, 2020, close to 500 Proud Boys gathered in a park in Portland, demanding justice for Danielson.

2020 Presidential Election Turmoil

Later that year, as the presidential elections approached and President Trump gave his shout-out to the group, the phrase “stand back and stand by” became an unofficial slogan for the Proud Boys, allegedly bolstering recruitment efforts and serving as the basis for Proud Boys merchandise.

Leaders who would later be convicted for their critical roles during the insurrection, like Joseph Biggs, celebrated the statement online and posed in clothes with the phrase on it. Tarrio shared a tweet following the debate, writing that he was “extremely proud” of President Trump and that the group would “stand back and stand by” for him. The Proud Boys rapper “Playboy the Beast” released a song featuring President Trump’s statement in 2020, in which the rapper endorsed violence against the left and said the Proud Boys were “ready for a civil war.”

After Trump lost the 2020 election, the Proud Boys had a notable presence at “Stop the Steal” election denial demonstrations held around the country in November and December 2020. In Washington, D.C., the Proud Boys rallied twice for such events. The first rally took place on November 14, 2020 and was dubbed the “Million MAGA March.” In December, Proud Boys gathered outside of Harry’s Bar, where they allegedly shouted and pointed out a Black man who was alone. Backing him against a wall, Proud Boys and other demonstrators punched and kicked him, as some yelled “fuck antifa.” Though the man drew a knife, the group continued to physically assault him, and he stabbed at least four of the Proud Boys.

Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys (left), and Joe Biggs (right) gather outside Harry's bar during a protest on December 12, 2020, in Washington, DC. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

During that same protest, Tarrio and a large group of Proud Boys tore down and set fire to a Black Lives Matter banner and destroyed another sign at the Asbury United Methodist Church, the oldest African-American church in the country. The group chanted “fuck antifa” as they burned the banner. That day, the group also vandalized the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, which later sued the Proud Boys. Tarrio and other prominent members of the group were ordered to pay over a million dollars in damages.

Authorities also charged Tarrio and sentenced him to five months of incarceration for the burning of the banner, as well as for the possession of high-capacity magazines found in his vehicle. As a condition of his release, a judge barred Tarrio from attending the January 6 protest that led to the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

January 6, 2021: Insurrection

The January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was a seminal event for the Proud Boys. Though Tarrio was not there, other individuals associated with the group played key roles in the insurrection, leading groups of rioters, engaging in numerous acts of destruction and violence and assaulting members of law enforcement.

Pro-Trump protesters, including Proud Boys leaders Joe Biggs (plaid shirt at bottom center of frame) and Zachary Rehl (MultiCam hat at bottom center of frame,) gather in front of the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, in Washington, DC. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images) 

Proud Boys leaders led approximately 200 participants in the march from the Ellipse to the Capitol. The group viewed itself as “Donald Trump’s army,” and was prepared to go to “fucking war” that day. As evidenced by court documents, Proud Boys leadership viewed the 2020 election as illegitimate, were motivated to keep President Trump in power, and saw anyone in the way of that as “traitors” who deserved to be killed by “firing squads.”  Tarrio and others made dozens of references across social media accounts to war and revolution.

The courts found that Nordean, Biggs and Rehl – members of the so-called Ministry of Self Defense (MOSD), an inner circle of prominent Proud Boys that planned the group’s activities on January 6 – “directed, mobilized and led a group of Proud Boys and other members of the crowd onto the Capitol grounds” during the insurrection. Tarrio and co-defendants Biggs, Rehl and Nordean were convicted of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and were each sentenced to over 15 years in prison.

Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison and 36 months of supervised release. He officially stepped down from leading the Proud Boys in February 2022, handing control to the chapters rather than a centralized body.

Insurrection Aftermath: More Violence

Anti-Left and Other Ideologically Motivated Violence in 2021

Following the January 6 attack and throughout 2021, the group engaged in multiple acts of violence that led to arrests and convictions of more Proud Boys.

In June 2021, police declared a riot as a large brawl broke out in a park in Portland, Oregon, where dozens of Proud Boys and antifascist counter-protesters attacked each other with chemical spray. In August that year, dozens of Proud Boys violently clashed with counter-protesters during a “summer of love” rally held in a parking lot in Portland, chasing counter-protestors while discharging bear mace and airsoft rounds, and then attacking a pickup truck on the road, smashing its windows, slashing its tires, and beating its driver. When a white van pulled into the parking lot hosting the event, a group of Proud Boys flipped it as the occupants fled the scene while the Proud Boys attacked them. 

Later in 2021, the group raised its profile on book bans and mask mandates amid the ongoing pandemic. In November 2021, approximately ten members of the Proud Boys attended a school board meeting in Downers Grove, Illinois, during a vote to remove a book from two local high school libraries. The Proud Boys allegedly jeered at those opposing the removal of the book, referring to them as “pedophiles.”

That same month, five Proud Boys attended a New Hanover County School Board meeting in Wilmington, North Carolina to oppose mask mandates, and a Wisconsin school district canceled classes ahead of a reported Proud Boys protest at the school district’s headquarters. The group allegedly planned to protest after an unfounded claim that a teacher had attempted to tape a mask to a student’s face.

Rise in Anti-LGBTQ+ Activity and Intimidation Tactics, 2022-2023

Opposition to the LGBTQ+ community has played a key role in the group's ideology and actions since the Proud Boys’ inception. The group views the LGBTQ+ community as an extension of leftist ideology pushing “unnatural” lifestyles onto others and promoting degeneracy, and it sees heterosexual relationships as paramount to producing “Western” babies.

Like other extremist groups, the Proud Boys’ anti-LGBTQ+ activity surged between 2022 and 2023, driven largely by the baseless narrative that members of the LGBTQ+ community are “grooming” children. During this period, the group disrupted dozens of drag and Pride events across the country, employing intimidation tactics, the threat of violence, and even direct instances of violence. In 2022, the group disrupted LGBTQ+ events or staged anti-LGBTQ+ rallies at least 25 times across the country, a number that rose in 2023 to at least 28 instances of disruptions and rallies.

In one incident in October 2022, approximately seven individuals associated with the Proud Boys and the white supremacist group Rose City Nationalists protested a drag story hour at a local pub in Eugene, Oregon, holding signs reading, “antifa supports child abuse.” According to police, several Proud Boys were armed with “what appeared to be assault rifles,” and one member of the group fired paintballs into a crowd that gathered to support the drag show.

Months earlier, in June 2022, approximately seven Proud Boys joined a protest organized by the far-right anti-LGBTQ+ group, Protect Texas Kids, at a Disney Drag Brunch event in Arlington, Texas. Attendees claimed the purpose of the protest was “protecting kids” from the LGBTQ+ community, despite the event enforcing a minimum age requirement of 21. Video footage from the protest showed a Proud Boys member verbally confronting an individual, yelling anti-LGBTQ+ slurs and calling him a pedophile. One Proud Boy screamed, “I did six months fucking locked up motherfucker, I’ll fucking do it again happily just to know I beat your motherfucking bitch ass you fucking pedophile, fucking faggot.” A day prior, in San Lorenzo, California, 10 Proud Boys disrupted a “Drag Queen Story Hour” at the San Lorenzo Library. One of the Proud Boys at the scene wore a t-shirt displaying an image of an assault rifle alongside the phrase, “kill your local pedophile.”

The group also continued to employ intimidation tactics at school boards and other public meetings, particularly in response to COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions like masking policies, as well as perceived “indoctrination” like LGBTQ+ literature and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in schools.

For example, in September 2023, the group targeted a Miami-Dade school board meeting in Florida which was voting on recognizing LGBTQ+ History Month. In March 2023, then Proud Boy now turned Goyim Defense League (GDL) associate Jeffrey Perrine disrupted a Roseville Joint Union High School District board meeting in Roseville, California. Perrine was later arrested and received a citation.

A Foothold in Local Politics

After post-insurrection arrests led to the effective dissolution of the Proud Boys’ national leadership, some chapters and individual members attempted to pivot to more active participation in mainstream political spaces and electoral politics in an attempt to expand their reach and further the group’s cause outside of the on-the-ground brawls it had become known for.

At first, these efforts were not fruitful. In 2021, former Proud Boy Joe Campbell ran for Topeka City Council in Kansas, losing with only 29% of the vote. In 2022, Proud Boy Daniel Tooze Sr. ran for a seat on the Oregon House of Representatives, losing in the primary.

But a 2022 New York Times article revealed that at least six current and former members of the Proud Boys secured seats on the 2021-2022 Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee -- its most successful foray into local politics by far. Since the publication of that article, some of these individuals have remained on the committee, while others have lost their seats.

In August 2024, former Miami-based Proud Boy Christopher Barcenas secured re-election to the executive committee. In a January 6-related deposition, Barcenas identified himself as a one-time member of the group. Gabriel Garcia and Gilbert Fonticoba, were both convicted of charges related to the January 6 insurrection and no longer sit on the committee.

In November 2024, the California Republican Assembly established a new chapter in San Francisco, that met for the first time and elected Proud Boy Daniel Goodwyn as president.

Goodwyn was convicted for his role in the January 6 insurrection, served a 60-day prison sentence, and was on probation until August 2024. In June 2024, a federal judge ordered that monitoring of Goodwyn’s internet activity continue as he continued to engage with extremists online.

A Big Tent for Hate

The Proud Boys serve as a unifier for a range of hateful beliefs that together oppose progressivism, feminism, multiculturalism and “woke” ideology in the U.S. and have branded themselves as victims of the “Marxist” left and of so-called “cancel culture.” They also frequently label their rhetoric and actions as patriotism and have shown they are willing to fight, often literally, to defend their bigoted beliefs.

Some Proud Boys have admitted to simply wanting to engage in violence, and fighting leftists appeared to be a justified way to do so.

White supremacy and antisemitism

The devolution of power and ideological inconsistency within the Proud Boys following the January 6 attack has led to growing tensions between chapters and influential Proud Boys that remain truer to McInnes’ initial conception of a “Western chauvinist” ideology focused on culture and those that emphasize race, including a growing white supremacist and antisemitic element within the group.

Many chapters and prominent Proud Boys have also sought to explicitly distance themselves from white supremacy, and official Proud Boys documents claim the group “disavow[s] Nazis” and “racists.” But it has a history of associations with white supremacist groups and other right-wing extremists and this contingent has seen some growth in recent years.

Beyond associations, given the emphasis on culture, some elements within the Proud Boys focus on race and use this framework to identify enemies. Several Proud Boys offshoot channels on Telegram share explicit white supremacist and antisemitic content. While these channels may not represent the views of all group members, they have some of the highest subscriber rates of any Proud Boys-related channels with tens of thousands of viewers, and some “official” Proud Boys chapters have shared this content in their own channels. The Long Island Proud Boys, an officially recognized chapter, regularly shares antisemitic content on their Telegram channel, espousing antisemitic versions of the white supremacist Great Replacement Theory and alleging that Jews control both American political parties and the U.S. government. 

“The Western Chauvinist” is a Proud Boys offshoot Telegram channel allegedly created by high-ranking Proud Boys and run by self-described third- and fourth-degree members who share almost exclusively virulent white supremacist and other racist content. On the day of the 2024 presidential election, The Western Chauvinist posted a ballot with a write-in for Adolf Hitler and the caption “the only vote that matters.” The channel also frequently shares propaganda for white supremacist groups like Patriot Front, the Goyim Defense League (GDL) and the Active Club network. 

In these white supremacist Proud Boy spaces – and occasionally in some official Proud Boy spaces – some users commonly express overt antisemitism, including antisemitic tropes, conspiracy theories, and slurs and share general antisemitic sentiments and memes.

Like other extremist groups, the Proud Boys often debate issues and reveal their ideology following significant events or in reaction to the national news cycle. In the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel, while some Proud Boys chapters expressed some level of support for Israel, the more antisemitic spaces criticized Israel and openly espoused antisemitism and anti-Zionism.

When Iran launched missiles targeting Israel in 2024, the unrecognized Hell Valley chapter of the Proud Boys celebrated, writing “kikes just got a taste of their own medicine” with multiple laughing emojis, and The Western Chauvinist Telegram channel published posts celebrating announcements of Israeli soldiers killed during the conflict.

Furthermore, after the 2024 presidential election, some elements of the Proud Boys have been critical of President Trump’s support of Israel and his cabinet picks, calling them “Zionist sellouts” and saying they represent a “total handover of our country to Israel.” 

Over the years, some individuals and factions have left the Proud Boys because they felt that the group was not white supremacist enough. In 2020, FOAK founder Kyle Chapman formed the breakaway “Proud Goys” with a particular emphasis on white supremacy and antisemitism. 

In 2022, the PDX chapter allegedly disavowed Portland-based Proud Boy Casey Knuteson for a growing “stream of racist and antisemitic statements.” That same year, he formed the white supremacist crew Rose City Nationalist Club (RCNC). In June 2023, individuals associated with the Portland chapter of the Proud Boys fought six members of the RCNC at a Pride event the two groups were protesting, resulting in two arrests. 

Following the altercation, divisions arose within online Proud Boys spaces. Some chapters condemned the actions of the involved Proud Boys, while others supported the Portland chapter.

The white supremacist channel “Proud Boys: Uncensored” called on Proud Boys “with any racial consciousness at all” to leave the organization and join or create a nationalist group instead. The channel also claimed entire Proud Boys chapters were “splitting off” and “ditching the brand and creating their own clubs” because of the incident, though there is little evidence of a mass exodus taking place.

Xenophobia

The Proud Boys also have a long history of anti-immigrant and xenophobic ideology, directly tied to their “Western chauvinistic” worldview that glorifies European and American culture.

Immigrants, particularly from “non-Western” cultures, are viewed as threats to the American way of life, and immigration is viewed as a critical issue facing the U.S. Often, the Proud Boys frame this as a “cultural” issue, pointing to differences in religion, language and, in their view, morality, as signs of inferior and dangerous groups. Like other extremist groups, many elements of the Proud Boys regularly refer to non-Western (or non-white) immigrants as “invaders.”

In articles for Taki’s Magazine spanning years, McInnes justified and endorsed Islamophobia – referring to Muslim immigrants as “rapefugees,” advocating for a return to more mainstream Islamophobia and claiming that Arab people are culturally and genetically inferior due to inbreeding. McInnes lamented inclusivity and diversity, claiming it is “obvious the West was the best. Today, however, when foreigners fly planes into our skyscrapers and rape our children, we apologize. What the fuck happened?”

This Islamophobia has persisted. Following the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, the Villian City chapter of the Proud Boys – Miami’s recognized chapter of the group – wrote on Telegram, “Islam is the problem.… They'll keep coming at us, believing in their murdering, pedophile, warlord, most obvious false ‘prophet’ in history. You can't teach people like that lessons in humanity.”

Islamophobia is not the only strain of xenophobic ideology the Proud Boys endorse.

Most recently, as the baseless narrative accusing the Haitian community in Springfield, Ohio, of eating pets spread during the 2024 presidential election, Proud Boys organized a demonstration in the city that featured approximately 20 masked individuals carrying Proud Boys flags and wearing the group’s distinctive yellow and black colors. One Proud Boy held a sign with a cat on it that read, “don’t feed on me.”

In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, a popular video circulated in Proud Boys spaces on Telegram depicting an individual running over immigrants of various ethnicities with a truck and the caption “1/20/25: Trump is sworn in as President, 1/21/25: Me and the Proud Boys begin the deportations.”

Misogyny

Since their founding, the Proud Boys have pushed misogynist and anti-feminist ideology. They view women as undeserving of the same status as men, worthy of ridicule for deviating from traditional gender norms, objectifiable in some instances to serve men, and worthy of protection in others – as long as they fulfill deeply antiquated gender roles in the service of preserving “Western” society.

The Proud Boys frequently target feminists in hateful posts, as well as women involved in or interested in politics, especially when they express beliefs that conflict with Proud Boys’ views.

Many chapters and individuals associated with the group have frequently called for the repealing of the nineteenth amendment, which guarantees women the right to vote.

After the 2024 election, the South Texas Proud Boys channel posted a meme of Pepe the Frog dressed in clothing from The Handmaid’s Tale, a popular dystopian book and television series that depicts a future society where women have little to no rights, with the caption, “dear feminists: this is your life now.”

A meme shared by the South Texas Proud Boys channel depicting Pepe as a handmaid from The Handmaid’s Tale. (Screenshot/Telegram)

While women have frequently joined Proud Boys events and rallies, they have never been allowed to become members of the group. However, in December 2020, former MMA fighter Tara LaRosa established a Telegram channel called Proud Girls USA, which the official Proud Boys channel was quick to snub, writing, “Want to support us? Get married, have babies, and take care of your family.”  While the Proud Girls USA Telegram channel is still somewhat active, a formalized group for women never materialized.